Hero of the Week: Vermont first responder saves drowning woman at Long Sands Beach in York, ME

This week's hero is a bystander and First Responder in Vermont (who was unnamed in the article) and who happened to be at a Maine beach and jumped into action when seeing a young woman drowning. Ocean temperatures at the end of May were in the 50s, which is cold enough to cause hypothermia, so swimming in water that cold requires a wet suit, which the swimmer apparently didn't have. Here's the story.

(Photo: York Beach, Maine. Credit: WGME-TV)

Vermont first responder saves drowning woman at Long Sands Beach in York, ME

WGME-TV, May 28, 2025

YORK, Maine (WGME) -- A first responder from Vermont is the bystander who police say pulled a 20-year-old drowning victim out of the ocean at Long Sands Beach in York, performed CPR, and got her breathing again.

York police say when officers and EMTs got to the beach Saturday afternoon, they could see someone performing CPR and when they got to the scene, the rescued woman was breathing on her own.

York Fire Chief David Apgar said the first responder helped, "getting the swimmer, the patient, to reestablish breathing, which was huge." Fire Chief David Apgar responded to the call and says even with frigid ocean temperatures, hundreds of people were in the water.

"The water temperature is around 50 degrees. Hypothermia sets in quickly," Chief Apgar added.

"It’s pretty cold, you know," said Owen Boyer, a beachgoer from South Berwick. "It's not really refreshing. It's just kind of like a shock."

Chief Apgar says they have no idea what caused the nonfatal drowning, although hypothermia is one possible explanation, larger than normal waves are another.

"The waves were really large because of the storm off coast. But you're not going to keep people out of the water," Chief Apgar said. "Even on a nice, warm summer day, you go in when the waves are large, you got the undertow,” the chief explained. “It's a hazard. If you're an inexperienced swimmer, it's even worse."

No lifeguards were on duty this past Memorial Day holiday weekend in York. They start the last week in June. "This time of year, you know, people, again, they are on their own," Chief Apgar said. Beachgoers we spoke with say they'd feel safer if lifeguards were on duty.

"It's definitely a risky situation there," said Boyer. "People come here on vacation. They bring their little children. And sometimes they don't watch them. And if they get out there, it could get pretty dangerous, so yeah, the whole summer it would be nice to have lifeguards."

Some say until lifeguards are on duty, people should stay in shallow water. 

Police are not releasing the name of the 20-year-old victim. Due to her serious condition, she was taken to a Boston hospital.